We have discovered a large number of websites that offer free codes that can be exchanged for different amounts of money for PlayStation Network and Steam and, without a doubt, we have found really suspicious, so we decided to analyze them thoroughly. We chose one of these pages and followed all the steps that they proposed us in order to obtain the supposed codes exchangeable for money for PlayStation Network or Steam.
The first thing
The first thing that caught our attention on the scamming websites are the security certificates that appear in the lower right corner and that ensure that it is a place of trust and “100% safe”. As you can see, in these certificates does not appear the name or logo of who has issued them, so they have no value whatsoever, they are completely false. It is a simple trick to deceive the user and to believe that it is a trusted website.
In addition to this “trick” to deceive the user, the websites have also added an alleged assessment of users, where the page stands out for having 4 stars and a half over 5 in more than 1,700 opinions (for example). If we try to click on the stars and evaluate the page, we will see that it is a simple image. Despite this, let’s continue; let’s see what happens when we go to other scamming methods.
Asked to share a link
Once we click on some scamming websites, instead of receiving the supposed code, we are asked to share a link with our friends, specifically with 5 more friends. In this way, the pages ensure that the number of visits increases and, therefore, increases the number of people trying to get another “free code”. Will we receive the psn code after inviting our friends? Nothing!
A small survey and maybe more
As you can see, obstacles continue to appear that do not allow access to the supposed code. In this case, the user is asked to complete a small survey before receiving the code. It seems they do not want to give us the code, do not you think? If we click on one of the offered surveys, a message will appear indicating that we must use VALID information in order to receive the code. Why? You got yourself trapped!
Giving your phone number
It is a page where we are asked to enter our phone number to receive the code. This is the reason why we were asked to enter VALID information. But, before writing our number, let’s read what nobody usually read and that appears in the lower area of the screen: the small print. Surprise! It is a subscription to a Premium SMS network with a minimum cost of approximately $ 40.
And as expected, there is no free code!
Unfortunately, there are many pages that use a method similar to the one described above. Some of them, to generate the supposed free code, ask the user to download the program that generates codes redeemable in PSN and Steam but, as you can imagine, this code will never appear. In this way, fraudsters profit by the number of downloads that said fraudulent program obtains.
